1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle and a baby carrier using the buckle. More specifically the present invention relates to a buckle for coupling or separating a pair of members and a baby carrier using the buckle.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known a buckle having a socket and a plug capable of being inserted into the socket and hooked in the socket in the state where the plug is inserted into a prespecified position in the socket as a unit for coupling or separating a pair of members to or from each other.
With the buckle having the configuration as described above, a pair of members can be coupled to or separated from each other with a relatively simple operation, so that the buckle is widely used for coupling or separating a belt, a tape, a string, and the like.
For instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-687 discloses the possibility of forming a bag-like carrier as a baby carrier by attaching one side of a buckle (for instance, a plug) to a tip of a belt member provided in a back member and also attaching the other side of the buckle (for instance, a socket) to a shoulder belt and engaging the two members with each other.
With the baby carrier having the configuration described above, a user can assemble the baby carrier just by engaging the plug of the buckle with the socket of the same, and can disassemble the carrier by unhooking the plug of the buckle from the socket of the same, so that the user can handle the baby carrier with a extremely simple operation.
However with the conventional buckle, a plug and a socket are attached to tips of a belt member at which the members are coupled to and separated from each other, and a user holds a back end of the socket and makes a front end of the plug inserted to and engaged with the socket or pulled out from the socket, which causes the problem that it can be difficult for a user in a wrong position to insert or pull out the plug.
In a buckle used in a baby carrier, a socket of this type of buckle is attached to a shoulder belt that a user wears it on the user's shoulder, so that it is extremely difficult for the user to hold and insert a back end of a plug to the socket or pull out the plug therefrom.